Right-wing radio's win

Dave Brat didn’t have much money, staff or name recognition — but he did have Laura Ingraham.

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary, the conservative talk radio host did more to raise Brat’s profile in his Virginia district than his own campaign could ever have done with its paltry budget and paid staff of two, political experts in the state and Washington said Wednesday. Through endorsements, mailings, media appearances and stump speeches, Ingraham, along with a couple of other media personalities on the right, helped turn Brat into a conservative sensation, enabling his stunning upset over House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Story Continued Below

“I helped shine a light on a race where the establishment was vulnerable. I helped give Brat a platform that he was not getting through any other media outlet,” Ingraham said in an interview. “The national media wasn’t giving him his due and national tea party groups weren’t lifting a finger to help him. … I knew that if he had a little bit of a boost, he would make a really good run at this.”

Brat’s surprise victory is a powerful reminder, as if any were needed, of the immense influence talk radio has over conservative politics — it was not only Ingraham boosting Brat, but also Glenn Beck and Mark Levin bringing their considerable influence with the right to bear as well. Since well before the rise of the tea party, establishment Republicans have feared the medium’s command over the conservative base.

Cantor’s willingness to work with President Barack Obama on immigration reform was a move Ingraham staunchly opposed on her radio show and in appearances on Fox News and ABC’s “This Week.” Ahead of Tuesday’s primary, her public campaign went from anti-Cantor to pro-Brat. She praised him on her program, spoke at his events and even had her executive producer circulate his press releases to her own email list. On June 3, one week before the primary, Brat and Ingraham held a rally at Eric Cantor’s country club that drew more than 600 supporters, according to Ingraham.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said he believes Ingraham’s support was the deciding factor in Brat’s upset win.

“Something had to propel Brat forward other than dislike of Eric Cantor,” Sabato said. “She electrified the crowd when he had almost no money. He won the seat with peanuts, compared to Cantor’s millions. It was a clever substitution of free media for paid media.”

“She wasn’t just a talk radio host who simply used her program to promote Brat. She took it to another level,” said Chuck Todd, the NBC News political director and senior White House correspondent. “I think she does deserve credit in giving credibility to Brat.”

On Wednesday, Brat took a victory lap on Ingraham’s radio show to discuss their unifying pet issue — immigration.

“I think immigration reform is DOA. The American people spoke through Virginia yesterday. Everybody is getting a wake-up call,” Ingraham said.

“This is just the first little wave — I mean, it’s a huge wave — but it’s spreading throughout the country,” Brat replied. “The people want their country back.”

Brat’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment, but in an interview with POLITICO on Tuesday night, the candidate attributed his victory to voters’ frustrations with Washington and suggested that Cantor overplayed his hand by trying to brand Brat as a liberal professor. “They gave me $1 million in name ID and I think that got us going, I think,” he said.

Other conservative radio hosts played important roles as well: Levin hosted Brat on his radio show four times in the weeks leading up to the election. On May 29, Levin gave Brat a ringing endorsement, and encouraged listeners to donate to his campaign. “If you have a few bucks, give the guy some help because he needs it and he would be a great member of Congress,” Levin said on the show. The day before the election, he told Brat: “I’m all for you. I want you to win.”